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Easy Vegan Naan Recipe

Naan is an Indian flatbread made from a fermented dough of all-purpose flour. This vegan naan is a dairy-free version of an authentic naan recipealong with few other versions of naan like butter garlic naan, bullet naan.

Naan is an Indian flatbread and a popular restaurant style flatbread. In India, for regular everyday flatbread (roti), we use whole wheat flour. Which makes it different from that of the tortilla which is made with refined flour.

Similarly, this naan recipe has refined flour. You can also make naan with wheat flour and a mix of flour. But the softest and fluffy naan comes from refined flour or all-purpose flour because of the gluten content in the refined flour.

However, I won’t recommend this for an everyday menu. But yes occasionally on special occasions when you wish to treat yourself with restaurant-style food, you must make this naan at home.

This is an easy flatbread recipe. This can be vegetarian or vegan easily by replacing one or two ingredients only. Similarly, by changing a few toppings, the recipe name also changes. e.g. garlic naan, butter naan, bullet naan, lacchha naan, pudina naan, chili cheese naan, Peshawari naan/ Kashmiri naan, chur chur naan, and many more in fact.

Different Types of Naan

Garlic Naan:-

This is a traditional variety of naan. Here finely chopped garlic is used while rolling the naan bread. Along with cilantro leaves and nigella seeds.

Butter Naan:-

Butter naan is very much similar to garlic naan but with little lesser garlic or even with no garlic toppings. Here only toppings you will see are nigella seeds and cilantro leaves.

Bullet Naan:-

Bullet naan is little more towards spicier flavor. Hence the name bullet. But however you can adjust it as these are only the toppings. In bullet naan the toppings are jalapeno or chillies along with regular cilantro leaves and nigella seeds.

Lachha Naan:-

Lachha naan is nothing but lachha paratha made with same naan dough. I have made lachha paratha with whole wheat flour. But here the dough is made in same process of fermenting flour with yeast and then rolled in layers just like lachha paratha. (lachha means layers).

Chur Chur Naan:-

Chur chur naan is a little different. This is a stuffed and layered naan. Again the method of preparing the dough is also different for this recipe. I will make a separate post for Amritsari chur chur naan.

Peshawari Naan:-

Peshawari naan is made with same dough. But then the toppings differ with pistachio/ dry fruits and lots of cheese. So this naan is a cheesy naan.

Other Indian Flatbreads to read:

How to make vegan naan from scratch?

This naan is similar to regular butter naan. But we will be using dairy-free products for this recipe. That is in place of regular milk, we will be using dairy-free milk and in place of butter/ ghee, we will be using vegan butter. Even you can use other fat options like olive oil or any other vegetable oil.

Ingredients for Vegan Butter Naan with Yeast

Flour: – Refined flour. You can also make with half of refined and half of the wheat flour. But it won’t be fluffy like refined flour ones. this is because refined flour has the highest amount of gluten which will make the bread fluffy like bread.

Instructions for Easy Vegan Naan:

In a bowl take lukewarm water. Add instant yeast and sugar and leave it for 10 minutes till it’s bit foamy on top. Once it’s activated, add non-dairy milk, a pinch of salt, baking powder, and Flour.

Knead well to a dough. Cover and leave it for 30 minutes minimum so that the flour will ferment and rise. Brush it with little oil.

After 30 minutes knead again for 2 minutes. Divide the dough into equal portions.

Take the balls and stick some cilantro leaves and nigella seeds/ sesame seeds on top. Then roll it to circle or oval shape.

Method – 1

Heat a skillet (preferably cast-iron skillet). Place the rolled naan on tawa. Once you see bubbles on the surface, flip to the other side. Cook for a minute or two. Remove from heat. Brush with vegan butter. (for nonvegans or vegetarians brush with ghee or butter.

Method – 2

Heat skillet. Now brush the backside of naan with water. Place the wet side of naan on the skillet. Now when you see bubbles on the surface, flip it with the skillet, so that the naan will be cooked in the direct flame (like tandoori roti). Once cooked, brush some butter or ghee on top.

Some tips and suggestions for the best naan

What is different between kulcha & naan?

Kulcha is also another type of Indian flatbread. Naan is leavened using yeast whereas for kulcha baking soda/ baking powder & yogurt works well.

How naan is soft and fluffy?

Naan is generally made from fermented refined flour dough. The gluten gets activated when you need it more. When you add yeast and sugar, it leavens the dough and helps to rise to make it airy. So when you make flatbreads out of the dough it becomes fluffy and airy.

Difference between butter naan and bullet naan

Bullet naan is similar to butter than other than the toppings. In bullet naan, the toppings are cilantro leaves and jalapeno. So it’s little towards the spicy side. Whereas the classic butter naan has sesame seeds, garlic is topped.

Can I make the naan using instant pot?

Yes, for fermentation. When you knead the dough using yeast, you need to keep it for 2 hrs for fermentation to occur. So the process can speed up in an instant pot.

Can I use vegan naan using a microwave oven?

Yes. Naan is similar to other flatbreads other than fermentation. Fermentation is the main part of the recipe. This takes a few hours. So you can quicken the process by placing it in the oven for some time to proof the dough and to ferment.

Is traditional naan is not vegan?

No. Authentic Indian naan is not vegan because of the use of greek curd/ milk. Also, the recipe calls for butter which is a dairy product. So, in turn, to make this a vegan flatbread, we need to replace dairy products with non-dairy options.